WVII interviews Rebar, Acheson about state’s higher than average grocery bills
WVII (Channel 7) spoke with John Rebar, executive director of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and Ann Acheson, a research associate at UMaine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, for a report about Maine’s annual grocery bills being high above the national average. A recently released report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis found Mainers spend almost $1,000 more per capita on their annual household food budget. One of the reasons could be the cost of transporting food, according to the report. “You bring a truck full of food into Maine and that truck heads back empty because there isn’t a neighboring place to go to,” Rebar said. “We’re the only state in the nation that borders only one state in the contiguous 48.” Rebar said the increase in farmers markets has added to the value of agriculture and production in the state, although it may cost the consumer a little more. “I think the quality of life that we have in Maine is why we’re here, and it’s well worth the cost of other things,” he said. Acheson said the numbers in the report are too high because it factors in expenditures made by summer residents, but only divides totals spent by the state’s year-round population. “Maine has the highest percentage of seasonal dwellings of any state in the country,” she said.